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February 1 is the feast day of St. Brigid of Ireland. St. Brigid is the
patron of dairy workers and one

of her symbols is the cow. There are various
stories of her associated with making of butter as well. One pious story tells
that Brigid would divide the butter she churned into thirteen parts, one for
each of the twelve apostles and one larger part of Our Lord, which she would
distribute to the poor.

When her druid master discovered her generosity with his goods,
he came to the dairy to confront her. She welcomed him, washed his feet, and
prepared food for him. He determined to test Brigid and commanded her to fill a
great vessel with butter. Finding that she did not have enough butter to
fulfill his request (because she had given so much to the needy), Brigid began
to pray and through her prayers the butter multiplied in such large amounts
that her druid master was brought to believe in Christ through the
miracle.

Making fresh butter is a fun endeavor for kids. It is also fairly simple. It would be a fitting activity to celebrate the feast of St. Brigid, the buttermaker. I like the good old-fashioned mason jar method. The only equipment needed is a large glass mason jar. It should be twice as large as the amount of cream you are shaking (ex: a quart jar for a pint of cream).

In much of Europe, including France and Ireland, butter is cultured by
adding live bacteria to cream before churning. Traditionally, U.S made butter isn't cultured and
is known as sweet cream butter.
I found some recipes where yogurt, with live bacteria cultures, is added
to the cream and left to culture for a time before churning to produce a butter more like the cultured Irish butter.

Cultured Irish Butter

Ingredients

Directions

Whisk together half of the cream with the yogurt in a glass bowl
until no lumps remain. Slowly whisk in the remaining cream. Cover the bowl with
plastic wrap and set aside in a warm area for about 18 hours. When the cream is done “culturing,” it should smell and
taste a bit tangy, like yogurt.

Pour the cream into a mason jar. Cover tightly and shake vigorously. First the mixture will get foamy/frothy as it passes through the whipped cream stage. Continue shaking until a ball forms. That is the butter and the liquid remaining is the buttermilk (whey). The amount of time varies depending on how vigorously you shake the jar and how high the fat content of the cream is. The higher the fat content the shorter the shaking time (heavy whipping cream).

Pour off the buttermilk (and save for cooking). Place the
butter in another small bowl. In a different bowl, combine cold tap water with
ice to make ice water. To rinse the butter pour some of ice water into your bowl with the butter and knead it with your hand. Pour off the murky water and add some more ice water. After several rinses, the water that comes off should be clear. And the butter will become more firm and stop sticking to your hands. Press all the water out and drain.

Knead in about 1/4 teaspoon of salt, or more to taste. I
used a Celtic gray sea salt. Scrape the butter into a ramekin or mold it into a
block. Refrigerate for up to a week.

Enjoy your fresh butter on any bread including these specifically Irish breads posted in earlier years: Traditional Irish Soda Bread or St. Brigid's Oaten Bread. Both of these recipes call for buttermilk, which would be a good use of the buttermilk you obtain from your butter making process.

St. Brigid, Pray for us!

Edited to add: Here is a close up of our St. Brigid peg doll in case anyone wants details to paint own.

Ragout is a thick, rich stew. Serving this lamb ragout over mashed potatoes creates a hearty meal for a cold January day, such as the feast of St. Agnes, January 21. I was particularly attracted to this version of a ragout recipe, as it is served over the mashed potatoes and the fluffy mashed potatoes remind me of lamb's wool - a fitting St. Agnes association to go along with the actual lamb roast. St. Agnes is typically pictured holding a lamb, and her name means lamb.

The following recipe for the Feast of the Baptism of the Lord was submitted by Tamalyn Lawrence. She shares that "It's very simple - blue water, sandy beaches, shells in the sand and blueberries for the river Jordan on top. Super easy and my kids really enjoyed it!" Thank you, Tamalyn!

2. Once ice cream has frozen, spread whipped topping across the top. Return to freezer or go ahead and decorate now.

3. Sprinkle graham cracker crumbs on the corners to create the "sand", leaving a space in the middle.

4. Dot blueberries through the middle path to create the "River Jordan". Sprinkle white sugar on top of the blueberries.

5. Break madeleine cookies in half to push in the "sand" to make the "shells".

Serve immediately (can be frozen, but blueberries will freeze).

Note: Traditionally, the Feast of the Baptism of the Lord is celebrated on January 13, the octave day of Epiphany. In the current liturgical calendar, the Baptism of the Lord is celebrated on the Sunday after January 6, which will fall on January 10, 2016.

John Nepomucene Neumann was born on March 28, 1811, in the village of Prachatitz in Bohemiawhich is now the Czech Republic. John,
who had always been interested in being a missionary to America and came to the
United States at age 25 and was ordained a priest in 1836.He served the Niagara frontier for several years. He joined
the Redemptorists and professed vows in 1842 and was the first Redemptorist
to be professed in the United States.

Fr. John Neumann became a naturalized citizen of the United
States in 1848.His ability to
speak seven languages, German, Czech, English, French, Italian, Spanish and
Gaelic helped him to serve his people. In 1852, he was appointed the 4th
Bishop of Philadelphia. His first concern was always the immigrant children. He
gave first priority to establishing schools and is credited with setting up the
first system of diocesan parochial schools in the United States.Also during Neumann's administration,
new parish
churches were completed at the rate of approximately one per month.

Bishop Neumann collapsed and died January 5, 1860.
On June 19, 1977, John Nepomucene Neumann became America's third
Roman Catholic saint, and the first American male saint.

His feast day is January 5 and he is the patron of sick children and immigrants. [Biography]

To remember St. John Neumann on his feast day, a beloved Bohemian pastry, kolaches, make a great treat. A kolache is a sweetened yeast pastry filled with a fruit, cream cheese, or a poppy seed filling. There are probably about as many variations as there are Czech grandmas. There are many different shapes, sizes and fillings.
From rounds to folded pockets, hand sized to pie-sized, sweet to savory. Some raised, some not. Most seem to agree that
the name “kolache” (or kolach, kolace, kolacky) comes from the Czech word for “cookie”. So I tried my hand at one variation in honor of the Bohemian to American saint, St. John Neumann.

Turn out onto a floured surface and knead until smooth and
elastic, about 6-8 minutes. Add additional flour, if necessary. Place dough in
greased bowl, turning once to grease top. Cover; let rise in a warm place until
doubled in bulk, about 1 hour.

Roll the dough into balls. Place balls on pan lined
with parchment paper and brush balls with melted oil. Let rise until dough is
light (double height).

Firmly press indentation in center and fill each roll with a
heaping tablespoon of filling. Here is a link to recipes for several different fillings.

Brush dough with egg white. Bake at 350° for
10-15 minutes or until rolls are light golden brown. Yield: about 28
rolls.

PRAYER FOR INTERCESSION OF ST. JOHN NEUMANN

O Saint John Neumann, your ardent desire of bringing all souls to Christ
impelled you to leave home and country; teach us to live worthily in the spirit
of our Baptism which makes us all children of the one Heavenly Father and brothers
and sisters of Jesus Christ, the first-born of the family of God.

Obtain for us that complete dedication in the service of the needy, the weak,
the afflicted and the abandoned which so characterized your life. Help us to
walk perseveringly in the difficult and, at times, painful paths of duty,
strengthened by the Body and Blood of our Redeemer and under the watchful
protection of Mary our Mother.

May death still find us on the sure road to our Father's House with the light
of living Faith in our hearts. Amen.

It is interesting to discover the various traditions of the Christmas season from around the world. My interest in Italian culture increased this year since my daughter spent a semester abroad in Florence. The Italians have the tradition of La Befana, the old woman. In folklore, Befana visits all the children of Italy on the eve of Epiphany (Jan. 6th) to fill their socks with candy and presents if they are good or a lump of coal or dark candy if they are bad. The name Befana is derived from the word epifania, the Italian name for Epiphany (Greek). One traditional treat made for Epiphany in Italy, particularly Tuscany region, is a sugar cookie called Befanini.

Befanini - Italian Epiphany Sugar Cookie

Ingredients:

3 cups flour

1 ½cups sugar

6 ounces butter (softened)

½ cup of milk

3 eggs plus 1 for the egg wash

Zest of half lemon

1 tablespoon baking powder

pinch salt

2 tablespoon of Sambuca or Rum

multicolored sprinkles

Directions:

In mixing bowl, combine the flour and the
sugar. Add the softened butter and
mix.Add the eggs and continue mixing.Now add the lemon zest, the baking
powder, the salt and the liqueur.Mix
on medium speed adding the milk as necessary to make a smooth dough.

Transfer the dough to floured pastry
board and knead to form a ball.Wrap
the dough and refrigerator for 30 minutes.

Preheat oven at 350 degree.Add flour to working surface and around your rolling pin. Roll
out the dough to 1/4 inch thick.Use
cookie cutters in different shapes to cut your cookies.Stars are especially appropriate for
Epiphany.

Place on the cookie sheet lined with parchment paper.
Make an egg wash with one egg and a bit of milk. Brush the cookies with
the egg wash mixture and add sprinkles.

Bake for 10-12 minutes at 350 until nice gold color.Remove from oven and transfer to a
cooling rack. Makes about 5 dozen.

We give thee thanks, almighty God, for all your benefits, who livest and reignest forever and ever. Amen.

May the Lord grant us His peace. And life everlasting. Amen.

Alternate conclusion:And may the souls of the faithful departed, through the mercy of God rest in peace. Amen.

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